salvation

Will You Behold Your King?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

And they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again. – Mark 10:34

The Jews no doubt having bribed the soldiers to excessive zeal of scorn, a second time (oh! mark this; perhaps ye thought this happened only once! this is the fifth time He has thus been treated) the soldiers took Him back again, and once more they mocked Him, once more they spat upon Him, and treated Him shamefully. So, you see, there was once when He first went to the house of Caiaphas; then after He was condemned there; then Herod and his men of war; then Pilate after the scourging; and then the soldiers, after the ultimate condemnation. See ye not how manifestly “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Oh, that I could set forth Thy grief, Thou Man of Sorrows! God the Holy Ghost impress it on your memories and on your souls and help you pitifully to consider the griefs of your blessed Lord.

You must this day accept Christ as your King, or else His blood will be on you. I bring my Master out before your eyes, and say to you, “Behold your King.” Are you willing to yield obedience to Him? He claims first your implicit faith in His merit: will you yield to that? He claims, next, that you will take Him to be Lord of your heart, and that, as He shall be Lord within, so He shall be Lord without. Which shall it be? Will you choose Him now? Does the Holy Spirit in your soul-for without that you never will-does the Holy Spirit say, “Bow the knee, and take Him as your king?” Thank God, then. But if not, His blood is on you, to condemn you. Pilate, Caiaphas, Herod, the Jews and Romans, all meet in you. You scourged Him; you said, “Let Him be crucified.” Do not say it was not so. In effect you join their clamours when you refuse Him; when you go your way to your farm and to your merchandise, and despise His love and His blood, you do spiritually what they did literally-you despise the King of kings. Come to the fountain of His blood, and wash and be clean. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

The Doctrine of the Cross Must Be True

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us… – John 1:14

And some began to spit on Him, and to cover His face, and to buffet Him, and to say unto Him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike Him with the palms of their hands. – Mark 14:65

We have pictures drawn from imagination; we have been enchanted along romantic pages, and we have marvelled at the creative flights of human genius; but where did you ever read such a thought as this? “God was made flesh and dwelt among us”-He was despised, scourged, mocked, treated as though He were the offscouring of all things, brutally treated, worse than a dog, and all out of pure love to His enemies. Why, the thought is such a great one, so God-like, the compassion in it is so divine, that it must be true. None but God could have thought of such a thing as this stoop from the highest throne in glory to the cross of deepest shame and woe. And do you think that if the doctrine of the cross were not true, such effects would follow from it? Would those South Sea Islands, once red with the blood of cannibalism, be now the abode of sacred song and peace? Would this island, once itself the place of naked savages, be what it is, through the influence of the benign gospel of God, if that gospel were a lie? Ah! hallowed mistake, indeed, to produce such peaceful, such blessed, such lasting, such divine results! Ah! He is God. The thing is not false. And that He is Messiah, who shall doubt? If God should send a prophet, what better prophet could you desire? What character would you seek to have exhibited more completely human and divine? What sort of a Savior would you wish for? What could better satisfy the cravings of conscience? Who could commend himself more fully to the affections of the heart? He must be, we feel at once, as we see Him, one alone by Himself, with no competitor; He must be the Messiah of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Treasured Sacrifice

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And led Him away to Annas first; for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year…Now Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. – John 18:13,24

The brook Kedron was that into which all the filth of the sacrifices of the temple was cast, and Christ, as though He were a foul and filthy thing, must be led to the black stream. He was led into Jerusalem by the sheep-gate, the gate through which the lambs of the Passover and the sheep for sacrifice were always driven. Little did they understand, that in so doing they were again following out to the very letter the significant types which God had ordained in the law of Moses. They led this Lamb of God through the sheep-gate, and they hastened Him on to the house of Annas, the ex-high priest, who, either from his relationship to Caiaphas, from his natural ability, or his prominence in opposing the Savior, stood high in the opinion of the rulers. Here they made a temporary call, to gratify the bloodthirsty Annas with the sight of his victim; and then, hastening on, they brought Him to the house of Caiaphas, some little distance off; where, though it was but a little past the dead of night, many members of the Sanhedrim were assembled… Brethren, as the Lord gave commandment concerning even the ashes and offal of the sacrifices, we ought to think no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt offering. My admonition is, “Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost.” As goldsmiths sweep their shops, to save even the filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very precious…Things which were purposed of old, prophesied by seers, witnessed by apostles, written by evangelists, and published by the ambassadors of God, are not matters of secondary interest, but deserve our solemn and devout attention. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

The Very Core of Christianity

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. – Leviticus 17:11

“For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” – Matthew 26:28

Beloved, we know from Holy Scripture that the death of Christ is the very core of Christianity. Leave out the cross, and you have killed the religion of Jesus. Atonement by the blood of Jesus is not an arm of Christian truth; it is the heart of it. “Even as the Lord said of the animal, ‘The blood is its life,’ so it is true of the gospel, the sacrificial death of Jesus is the vital point of our profession. I know nothing of Christianity without the blood of Christ. No teaching is healthy which throws the cross into the background. The doctrine of Christ crucified is always with me. As the Roman sentinel in Pompeii stood to his post even when the city was destroyed, so do I stand to the truth of the atonement though the church is being buried beneath the boiling mud-showers of modern heresy. Everything else can wait, but this one truth must be proclaimed with a voice of thunder.

If the light of the atonement is put under a bushel, the darkness will be dense. In omitting the cross you have cut the Achilles’ tendon of the church: it cannot move, nor even stand, when this is gone. Holy work falls to the ground: it faints and dies when the blood of Jesus is taken away. The cross must be put into the forefront more than ever by the faithful, because so many are unfaithful. Let us endeavour to make amends for the dishonour done to our divine Master by those who deny or dishonour His vicarious sacrifice. Let us remain steadfast in this faith while others waver, and preach Christ crucified if all others forbear. Grace, mercy, and peace be to all who exalt Christ crucified! ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

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We Thirst After Fellowship with Thee, Our Savior

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation Leave a comment

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? – Song of Songs 3:3

In seeking our Lord, we must use all ministries. The spouse enquired of the watchmen. We are not to despise God’s servants, for He is usually pleased to bless us through them, and it would be ungrateful both to Him and to them to pass them by as useless. But, while we use the ministries, we must go beyond them. The spouse did not find her Lord through the watchmen; but she says, “it was but a little that I passed from them, that I found him whom my soul loveth.” I charge you, my dear hearers, never rest content with listening to me. Do not imagine that hearing the truth preached simply and earnestly will of itself be a blessing to your souls. Far, far beyond the servant, pass to the Master. Be this the longing of each heart, each Sabbath-day, “Lord, give me fellowship with Thyself.” True, we are led to see Jesus sometimes, and I hope often, through listening to the truth proclaimed, but, O Lord, it is no outer court worship that will satisfy us we want to come into the Holy of Holies and stand at the mercy-seat itself. It is not seeing Thee afar off and hearing about Thee that will content our spirits, we must draw nigh unto Thee and behold Thee as the world cannot. Like Simeon, we must take Thee into our arms, or we cannot say that we have seen God’s salvation: like John, we must lean our heads upon the bosom, or we cannot rest. Thine apostles are well enough, Thy prophets well enough, Thy evangelists well enough; but oh, we feel constrained to go beyond them all, for we thirst after fellowship with Thee, our Savior. Those who feel thus will bless the church, but only such. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1035.cfm

The Dark Side of God to Sinners

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. – Exodus 14:20

That same glory which lit up the canvas city, and made it bright as the day, darkened all the camps of Egypt. They could see nothing, for the dark side of God was turned to them. I am afraid it is so with some of you. Oh, dear friends, is it not a dreadful thing that to some men the most terrible thing in the world would be God? If you could get away from God, how happy, how merry, how jolly you would be! You want to depart from Him; you are departing from Him. One of these days Jesus will tell you to depart. “Keep on as you were,” says He, “you were always departing from God; keep on departing. Depart from Me, ye cursed!” That will be the consummation of your life. To some of us the thought of God is joy, but to the ungodly nothing would be such good news as to hear that there was no God, indeed, they find a dreadful comfort in endeavoring to be sceptical and unbelieving. God has a dark side to sinners; His justice and His righteousness, which are the comfort of His people, are the despair of the wicked.

Now look at the gospel itself. Why, there are many that sit and hear the gospel, and they say, “I do not understand this believing, this atonement, and so on.” No, I know you do not; you are an Egyptian, it is dark to you. It is a savor of death unto death to you. I am afraid you will go on quarrelling with it until God ends the quarrel in your destruction. Oh, that ye would believe in Jesus Christ! Oh, that ye would “kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little,” for “Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” You can come and be numbered with Israel, for the door into Israel is Christ Himself. If you come to Christ you have come to His people, you have come to safety, and henceforth “the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.” Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

He Repulses None

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

Is there any instance of our Lord’s casting out a coming one? If there be so, we would like to know of it; but there has been none, and there never will be. Among the lost souls in hell there is not one that can say, “I went to Jesus, and He refused me.” It is not possible that you or I should be the first to whom Jesus shall break His word. Let us not entertain so dark a suspicion.

Suppose we go to Jesus now about the evils of today. Oh, this we may be sure—He will not refuse us audience or cast us out. Those of us who have often been and those who have never gone before—let us go together, and we shall see that He will not shut the door of His grace in the face of any one of us.

“This man receiveth sinners,” but He repulses none. We come to Him in weakness and sin, with trembling faith, and small knowledge, and slender hope; but He does not cast us out. We come by prayer, and that prayer broken; with confession, and that confession faulty; with praise, and that praise far short of His merits; but yet He receives us. We come diseased, polluted, worn out, and worthless; but He doth in no wise cast us out. Let us come again today to Him who never casts us out. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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